Lost Among Thieves
by Angael
Summary: It started out as regular teenager Malik Ishtar taking a shortcut home. Conclusion? Getting kidnapped and by mistake being taken in as the apprentice to the most wanted man/murderer/thief in the country. Thiefshipping. Possibly deathshipping.


**Disclaimer: I own nothing except the plot. WHICH IS MINE! 8D No steal-y. **

**Authoress: Angael/Zozy/Voltrixe 3**

**Summary: It started out as regular teenager Malik Ishtar taking a shortcut home. Conclusion? Getting kidnapped and by mistake being taken in as the apprentice to the most wanted man/murderer/thief in the country. Thiefshipping. COOKIES?**

**Pairing: Yami Bakura x Marik Ishtar**

**Malik means 'Hikari' Marik, and Yami no Marik will be going as 'Mariku.' **

_**BY THE WAY. IT MAY SEEM LIKE BRONZESHIPPING IN THIS CHAPTER, BUT I SWEAR IT'S NOT. IT'S PURE... BROTHERLY LOVE. Hahaha .They're not even brothers WTF?**_

**Title Chapter: I Don't Think We're In Kansas Anymore**

**Malik I.**

**{First Person}**

Once I got lost in my own house.

Weird, right? I've never told anyone, of course. Can you say EMBARRASSING? But hey, in my defense we _had_ just moved from Egypt, and the new house was bigger than anything I'd ever stayed in. It had a main floor and an attic (or the upstairs, I suppose), and when my sister called me downstairs for dinner and I yelled that I would be there in a sec, obviously I started down. I took a wrong turn and ended up in some weird room where the old owners had kept all their stuff; you know, it was one of those places with those creamy white sheets covering creepy looking furniture. There were those big chests that usually held mysterious treasure maps, or letters about unknown murders, or sometimes some magical items that led to different worlds, those sorts of things that heroes find in movies and stuff.

Unfortunately, I'm no hero; I'm just your average male horny Egyptian teenager, so obviously I turned right around and ran out down the stairs. When I came down looking a little freaked out, my sister gave me a weird look but didn't question me, instead just splattered some Mac n Cheese on my plate, and I gave her one of my cheesy thankful smiles and dug in.

What does all of that mean? Well, I'm not sure. The point is, I really lack any sense of direction.

When you say "head North for 30 feet and then take a right," I respond "no hablo español." I'm just that type of guy, you see. A compass might as well be a book in some foreign Ancient language, and unless that language is Coptic, I probably won't be able to read it. So what type of guy am I? "Alright" you're thinking, "we get you're directionally challenged, but what else is there to you?" Glad that you asked; I'll tell you.

I'm an unlucky idiot. Ishizu said it, Odion said it, my friends would tell me it, and my teachers would hint at it in their sarcastic and mean replies to my questions. Never before had I, Malik Ishtar, believed them, I'm a pretty stubborn bastard after all. Well, that is until now.

I mean hey, it had seemed innocent enough! Cold weather never had suited me considering I'd moved all the way from Egypt just a few years ago, although I said that before didn't I? Anyway, so wasn't it only obvious that I take the scary shortcut and cut through a bunch of dark alleyways to get home? Exactly! See, I think ahead, I can tell you already understand my logic.

But today didn't seem to be MY lucky day, because in the last hour and a half it seemed I'd gotten lost (big surprise there, since it happens ona_ daily basis_),been kidnapped, nearly raped, threatened, and as of recently become the apprentice to the notorious murderer, robber, and thief: Bakura Touzokuou, number one on America's top wanted. Of course, I'd always been quite good at attracting danger, but right now this might be my proudest moment. How did this happen?

Well, hell if I know, but I'll try to explain, shall I?

**Malik I. **

**{Third Person}  
**Tiredly he glanced around, his hands doing little to help his currently freezing state even though they rubbed against each other furiously, trying without success to bring back the little warmth he could recall from his school building, where the heater had been blasting in every room, saving it's wonderful students from freezing over (a bit too late for Kaiba, though). High school classes had just ended but he'd stayed after in detention (of course) so it was around five o' clock already, if he were to give a guess (his phone was dead so he couldn't check the time). Sadly this also meant he couldn't call his older siblings and order them to come pick him up, which meant he had to walk home. Usually this wasn't a problem, but today as you might have guessed was freaking ice cold, in the 40s at the most, although most likely below freezing point or around it.

He was wrapped up in a thin jacket and baggy pants, a T-shirt, gloves and a small scarf, although he might as well be naked against the harsh winds. He scowled upom realizing that at his slow walk it would be at least another half hour before he got home, although more likely it would be forty five minutes. So he trudged on, energy draining more and more till he was walking slowly, almost as if in a trance, considering stopping into stores that (just his luck) all seemed to be closed. It was then that he passed an alleyway, a dark one at that, which struck a memory.

"_Hey sister, there's so many alleyways and shit on the way to school, it would be twice as fast just to take one of-"_

"_Brother, under no circumstances are you to ever to travel into that part of town. That area is seedy and dangerous!"_

"_But Ishizu-"_

"_No buts!"_

"_All I'm saying is-"_

"_So what would you like to have for dinner?"_

_Siigghh._

The conversation had been quite brief and the point quite clear, but looking into the dark street in his current state he couldn't find much desire to follow his over-protective sister's words. So without further adieu, the Egyptian turned quickly on his heel and made his way through the gloomy and narrow street, blinking in surprise when it led to another. It seemed his luck was turning up, because in the thin alleyways the wind seemed to be blocked for the most part, and he found himself greatly relieved and slightly warmer, even if it was only a bit. And so with curious but quick steps he traveled along the dark paths for a long time, and just as he took the turn he was positive would lead to his street he noticed something quite stunning, and slightly disturbing.

It was a dead end.

Backtracking, he turned his head to the left (for he'd looked right, or at least, he thought it was right, he wasn't positive) and found that indeed only led to a small but seemingly locked door, and his street was nowhere in sight. Bravely he began to walk even faster down, taking turns here and there, before deciding maybe he'd gotten himself turned around somewhere and going back. Of course, this only seemed to confuse him more and it was after about 15 minutes he realized something with a fair amount of dread.

He, Malik Ishtar, was lost.

The panic only started to ensue after he'd run around and actually FOUND a way out of the endless maze of dark paths and twisting alleyways. It seemed that he'd managed to travel across the entire city in a short amount of time and had indeed gotten himself to "the bad side of town" for poking his head out onto a street, seedy figures stalked around, passing by and not shooting him a glance. With mounting nervousness he made his way out onto the said street, trying to make himself as inconspicuous as possible. Most of the people he passed didn't seem to care about him and were quite drunk thankfully, but there came a point where he knew he'd have to ask for directions.

Leaning against a wall, he watched with cautious amethyst eyes for someone that didn't look exceedingly scary (people like that were indeed few and far in between) but nearly let out a yelp of relief upon seeing a tall good looking man, with gelled spiky blond with tan skin and a, maybe not friendly, but calm exterior (for some reason Malik found him familiar, although he couldn't place where he'd seen the man before). With a confident side-grin he traveled forward, clearing his throat. "Excuse me?" He asked, trying to sound smooth and mature, although his height gave away that he didn't have too many years behind him. The well groomed man turned towards Malik in surprise, nodding in a 'yes?' motion to signal that he'd heard the Egyptian.

Feeling more confident thus far, he went on. "I think I'm a little lost, could you tell me how to get to 45th?" The unknown man seemed to think about it for a second, before nodding again.

"It's not too far, maybe a mile or so. Just head North for a few blocks, three I'm guessing, turn right and then keep going till you hit the bars. Around there you can get more directions or just keep on heading forward." The man smiled politely, not realizing that Malik hadn't understood anything he said. "I'm guessing you don't travel around these parts often?" Malik gave a small shake of his head. "It's quite obvious if I do say so myself so I'd try to stay low," A wink. "you never know what type of dangerous people hang around here~" Malik chuckled to show that the other's man words have done nothing to him, and puffed out his chest proudly.

"It's alright! I can take care of myself. I'm Malik, by the way." He grinned again. "Thanks, man."

The blond individual tilted his head. "The names Mariku, here..." The man reached into a well placed front pocket and pulled out a small business card. "Take my card; you can call me if you run into any trouble." And with the card placed forcefully in his hands, Mariku turned around swiftly and began walking in his original direction, leaving a surprised but pleased Malik.

"Bye Mariku! Thanks again!" He yelled after the official man, and began walking as well in the opposite way, following the complicated directions he'd been given with quite a bit of difficulty, however after about twenty minutes he managed it. Once he reached the 'bar area' however, he wondered if he'd taken another wrong turn, because this place looked even darker than his previous predicament. He gulped, noticing there were a lot more people here now, and he'd have be even more careful when traveling across the streets. He did just that, and cowered away when any given person would happen to pass. To say he was scared would be an understatement.

Fuck, he was terrified.

Everyone here towered over him, with sunken deep eyes, and lurking shadows. By now the sun seemed to have gone down and it was sunset, but in this place where the dusty and broken looking buildings towered, the usually beautiful array of orange, pink and yellow (along with many other colors) was nowhere to be seen, and any glimmer of it would die down. So when he reached the opposite end of the street where the numbers saying '35th' were labeled, he let out a gigantic sigh of relief.

Just his luck, it appeared he wasn't out of the slumps yet.

"'ey. Where th' fuck do ya' think you're goin', sweetie?" He froze upon hearing the slick voice, not moving a muscle and closing his eyes tightly.

_He's not talking to me. He's not talking to me._

He repeated this like a mantra in his head.

_He's not talking to me. He's not-_

"Hello? Pretty boy. I asked ya' a question."

_Shit, I think he's talking to me. _

He stood up elegantly, although on the inside he felt like his knees might buckle, and with calm uncaring eyes he met the others slightly out of focus ones. "That's none of your business." Malik then noticed that the obviously drunk man had another behind him, and realized maybe that hadn't been the smartest thing to say when the one in front laughed harshly, and the one in back did... well, nothing at all, appearing bored mostly. Both men had dark hair, which he'd like to call black but that was probably just because of the lighting.

"Lil guy talks like a king!" The drunken individual laughed cruelly and Malik took a startled step back as the other took a threatening one forward. "Maybe we'll jus' have ta teach you a little lesson, eh?" He realized now that he was in true danger, and just as he began to whip around he felt strong hands seize his wrists in a harsh fashion, and before he could even open his mouth to scream (although he would admit to an un-masculine yelp escaping him) Malik was thrown against a dirty wall, body smacking in a painful manner against it, his face narrowly avoiding getting smashed in. Now, however proud he may pretend to act, he had little to nothing to back it up. Shorter than average and with thin limbs that sometimes struggled in picking up his text-book filled backpack (but hey, those things are heavy!) he was hopeless against the wall, and his fear started to show through his little act, till he was squirming and try to no avail to get lose. It was only when teeth sunk into his neck that he stilled, now absolutely petrified. He could feel his own blood cracking through his skin, and when those teeth left and he heard lips smack together, he couldn't take it anymore: he screamed.

And screamed.

And screamed.

But no matter how much he yelled for help, no one came to his rescue, in fact glancing out of the corner of his eyes he was either earning looks of annoyance or none at all. Helplessly he tried again, being stubborn if nothing else but still no one came to his rescue. When hands began to slip under his shirt and roam his body, he was near tears although he refused to let them spill. By now he'd resorted to keeping his mouth glued shut, and eyes closed in fear, trembling slightly. When he felt one of those grimy THINGS (hands) reach into his pants and begin to feel him up, he let out a whimper, wondering if this was how he'd lose his virginity, and then die. He wondered back to how all of this had started, and bit back a laugh when remembering it had been with a stupid preference to stay warm. At the moment he was cold, very very cold. Malik didn't even notice.

Just when he'd almost resigned to his fate, he heard his captor's friend speak up.

"Really Adam. Can't you live without sex for five minutes? Have you forgotten what's happening tonight? If we're late, the king will kill us." Now despite all his panic, Malik could still think coherently, so upon hearing this he thought two things:

_King? What century do these people live in, we don't have any kings in Domino!_

And,

_Does this mean I'm safe for now?_

He shivered as the dirty man touching him grumbled something and stroked him one last time, before pulling away. He was quite proud to say that he didn't even make a sound when his captor slapped him painfully on the ass, although he did notably inhance his glare as he whipped around, even though he wanted to do nothing more than run to his home and collapse in his sisters arms, and sleep one million years. The man was looking at him thoughtfully.

"This guys a fuckin' virgin. It'd be a shame to let sucha find die." The now seemingly a bit more sober man looked back at his friend. "Whaddaya say ya', wanna take him with us?" Malik opened his mouth to protest before realizing that his opinion had little to no matter. He squirmed uncomfortably and glared at a wall as he felt both men give him appreciative stares, and finally the other one grunted something that sounded like a 'sure.' He was secretly grateful for this, after all he wasn't so stupid to not realize that if it had been a 'no' then he'd have been killed, although Malik didn't let it show on his face.

Looking back on it, he realized that this moment had been truly where he'd been given a new life, although he didn't know it yet.

After that he'd been pushed and shoved into a bar, and his two captors hadn't very thoroughly explained to him that there wasn't one person in the bar that would ever consider helping him, therefore screaming was useless and would only waste his breath (the more drunken one had then made a snide comment saying "trust me, you'll need it for later" to which Malik hadn't deemed worthy of a reply and had instead sunken into depression). The sad thing was, Malik believed them.

Everyone inside (although he tried not to look around too much, or else he'd fall even deeper into the depressed state that had overwhelmed him) had even scarier auras than those of the dark figures outside. Whether they laughed loudly with arrogant smirks or sat quietly and glared, every single one of them gave off the raw impression of danger. Some fought among each other, while others drank to their hearts content. There were groups that broke into chortles of laughter every few seconds, and others that spoke in hushed voices, black eyes hastily traveling around for prying ears. Malik's fear grew, although at this point he was beginning to feel numb.

A half hour later and, despite his current predicament, he was beginning to feel bored, wishing that whatever was going to happen would happen. His path to the exit was blocked with passed out bodies and tables, not to mention his own captor. The one that was sober (a.k.a., the one that hadn't molested him) had left a while ago and was nowhere to be found, but 'Adam' was staying with him. Lazily he watched as the black haired man chugged down yet another alcoholic beverage, amazed at this guy's intake. Glasses littered the floor and counter around him, along with bottles and a few cans; Malik scowled in disgust. The man was dressed in ragged clothing, black just like his hair, and had baggy black jeans. Everything about this 'Adam' was sloppy, even the way his shiny black cell phone-

"_Take my card; you can call me if you run into any trouble."_

He let out a small gasp, but his captor didn't notice. Franticly he tried to think of ways he could get the cell phone and call without being noticed, and just as he was about to try and slip his hand towards the disgusting man, it seemed like the heavens were on his side (for the first time he could ever remember), because taking one more sip of beer it seemed Adam had reached his limit, because he rather clumsily fell forward, head smacking hard against the table. Malik stared, barely believing his luck, and perked his ears carefully, and it did indeed seem like the bar was still as noisy as ever. He barely dared to breathe, and very cautiously and slowly he reached forward, slipping his hand inside the pocket and touching the metallic phone. And it was like magic, the second his fingers came into contact with his likely savior, he snapped it back, holding it like treasure. He stared at the man for a minute or so, eyes the size of saucer's, simply waiting dumbly for the man to spring up and laugh at him, beat him senseless, molest him or kill him painfully. Maybe all of them.

When none of the above happened Malik quickly and clumsily took out Mariku's card. With shaking fingers he opened the phone (a droid, he believed. Damn, this guy wasn't cheap even if the man looked it!) and pressed the numbers on the keypad, almost as if in slow motion.

**Call**

He pressed the beautiful button, and slowly raised the device to his ear, eyes closed and waiting for it to ring, just praying that Mariku would pick up. He breathed heavily in relief as he heard the first ring...

And then snapped his eyes open when he heard the _other _first ring.

Slowly he turned his head to the door where the ringing sound was coming from, the sound he could barely hear over all the noise. Standing there high and mighty, looking quite calm, was Malik's 'savior'. He was closer to tears than ever at this point, indeed he actually had to bite his lips to not simply break into tears.

The Egyptian watched as the blond man took out his phone, and he almost dared the smooth and official criminal (because that's what everyone in this place obviously was) to take out his phone.

"Hello? Adam?"

Malik didn't even know what to say, but he knew that by the end of this 'meeting' both his captors would have taken him back and he probably wouldn't live to see tomorrow. Taking a deep breath, he spokes loudly enough so that Mariku could hear him both ways, because (un)fortunately (he wasn't sure yet) he sat quite close to the door.

"Mariku?" Even he had to admit that his voice sounded slightly desperate and weak, but at the moment he didn't care.

The blond man snapped his head to the side, staring with surprised eyes at seeing Malik. "It's you..." Mariku chuckled slightly, mumbling something like 'I should have known' and making his way over, sitting down next to the Egyptian. "May I inquire why you're here... Malik, was it?"

Malik stared for a few moments, eyes weak, not sure what to think of the man in front of him. "Yeah..." he nodded mutely, "Malik is right." He sighed, running a trembling hand through his hair. "Some guys picked me up and took me here after _harassing _me... a-and then, this guy passed out a-and I took his phone... nd well... I mean, I heard your phone ringing, and you're here which means you're... you're a – you are..." Malik couldn't help it; with everything that was happening today, and the pure helplessness of this situation he wanted to cry like a baby. He could feel himself blubbering up but he refused to give into his emotions; no, he was determined to stay strong, even though he was quite positive Mariku could see the unshed tears in his eyes, and Malik was sure of one thing...

Mariku's freaking _amused_ look wasn't helping this feeling of hopelessness at all. "A criminal? I suppose you could call me that, although it sounds so un-classy. But really, that sort of sucks, too put it bluntly. I'm really sorry, here..." the silky man glanced down at the unconscious 'Adam' figure, contemplating something, before going on. "I'll get you out of here as soon as this meeting is over, you shouldn't have to put up with something like this, I bet you don't even know what all these people are or what's going on here." Mariku mused, and Malik shrugged.

"I just thought it was a bunch of mental people," Malik's eyes widened, "err... no offense!" he added quickly, to which Mariku chuckled, "As I was saying, a bunch of... ehh, convict's, getting together to have a party?" Malik went on, smiling uncertainly, and once again he got a wave of chuckles as a reply.

The other blond looked at him sympathetically. "Well, I _suppose _you could say that, although it's pretty far-fetched. You're pretty young aren't you? I mean, you can't be out of high scho-..." Malik blinked, surprised that the man had cut off so abruptly. Mariku seemed to have realized something however, and the very tanned man seemed to have gone quite pale all of a sudden.

"Is something wrong, Mr.?" Malik questioned curiously.

Mariku's head seemed to be racing, his eyes were huge and he was even swearing to himself. "We gotta get you out of here, shitshitshit. Listen Malik, the reason everyone is gathered is-"

There was a sudden smash of glass however, so the teenager never had the pleasure to hear what the man in front of him planned to say (if he had, his life might be different), because silence fell over the room like a blanket, and Mariku actually appeared to be a little scared now, staring at something over Malik's shoulder.

Malik opened his mouth to whisper a question, but was quickly interrupted before he could gather breath for his inquiry, "Thank you, thank you~. You all are too kind, I couldn't ask for a better audience." The high school student found his eyes widening, his finger's tingling, and couldn't help the shiver that ran up his spine as he heard that silky, _rough_ voice that scraped against his ear drums. With mesmerized eyes he turned, ever so slowly, needing to see the face of whoever had somehow managed to freeze him to the very bone just by speaking.

"I'd first like to thank you all for coming..." Malik let out a breath, one that he hadn't even realized he'd been holding, only able to stare at the man who waltzed on the stage at the back of the bar. Maybe it was the lighting, perhaps it was just Malik's imagination, but the boy swore he'd never seen a figure so... striking? Was that the word? His appearance was more than enthralling, it was captivating, fascinating, and awing... any synonym of that would do, actually.

A mane of white hair that some might call 'innocent' fell down the man's back, although each spike that the tresses ended in shattered any appearance of purity, as they all were pointed and deadly. Breath-taking, soul stealing mahogany eyes seemed to be everywhere at once, and years of experience and wisdom were etched into them, although the man couldn't have been any older than 30. Skin as pale and smooth as paper, the man was tall and intimidating, and there was an air of undeniable confidence around the phantom. A black trench coat adorned the male tightly, with a blue and white striped shirt underneath and form fitting black trouser's clothed the chap's bottom half. Laughter, insane and arrogant broke through Malik's trance, and his attention was brought to the man's sharp teeth, those that looked as though they belonged to an animal, or even more so, a vampire. "Who the fuck am I kiddin'? If you're here it means I've deemed you important enough to send an invitation, or that you've done something that's caught the attention of the police department. Either that or you're a spy; I've already killed three today though, so it's highly doubtful." A very sure smile decorated the guy's lips, and Malik felt his nerves grow like they never had before; why did he fell like something important and life-changing was about to happen?

"It's been a great year, gentleman! Or should I say murderers, convicts, thieves, crooks, felons, lawbreakers, and oh so many more... if I could feel such an emotion, I'd probably be _proud_ of all of you, although I'll save that feeling for my humble self, if it's alright with all of you bastards." A conceited grin, "As you all know, ten years ago I was chosen to be your king, at the age of 17..." once again, the man broke into laughter, "Thief King, is what my and predecessors and I are called, isn't it? It's been eighty long years since my hero of a great grandfather, Akefia Touzokuo, decided that it was right and time that..." an appreciative pause, "_our kind_ should have a leader. Since then, every ten years, the Thief King will choose a young male to be an apprentice, and when that King dies, the apprentice will take his learning's and use them to his best capability.

"Unfortunately, my predecessor, Atemu Yuugi, died after only two years of educating me..." the man was looking innocently out at the crowd, although the grin that seemed to grow wider and wider with every second contradicted his next words, "Pity, wasn't it? He was such a _good_ leader, too." The man's eyes hardened, and he suddenly snarled, all laughter gone and now almost angry, it seemed. "_Too_ good, he was soft. Today I'm here to choose my heir, and I'll be sure that he does NOT end up like Atemu.

"Now that all the newbies are caught up, I would like everyone to please stand up." Malik blinked in surprise, wondering what this was all about, wanting very badly to turn around and question Mariku, but knowing that if he did any such thing, it would be quite suspicious, so he stood up, along with the rest of the room. The scraping of chairs against the floor rang out, and a few grumbles could be heard; Malik even noted the sound of a glass crashing to the ground and smashing against the hard wooden floorboards. The man up front rolled his eyes, and Malik found that he couldn't look away; there was this growing feeling, like he was drowning. Ever since the white haired guy had stood up on the stage, the teenager had felt the strangest need for the chap to glance over, to _see_ him: to really look at him, to understand him. Because, for the weirdest reason... This man was like a map that he couldn't read; something that he'd never before felt the urge to understand... until now. "Good, good. Since I heard some of you old men complaining, everyone over 30, do us all a favor and sit down." Malik furrowed his eyebrows; call him slow, but he really didn't understand what was going. Nonetheless, half the people throughout the humungous room sat down.

"Alright now; looks like we have a large amount of young people, excellent, excellent." The mahogany eyes male was once again grinning wildly, looking everywhere around the room, at every person... **Except HIM**. He felt like his skin was crawling, he wanted, needed the man to look at him. The sound around him, the breath of the other's in the room, it was all getting quieter and quieter, the vision of any other standing or sitting felons were disappearing, till all he could see was that man, standing up there with that goofy insane smirk.

"Okay, everyone over 25, sit the hell down." Bakura scanned his eyes over the crowd, and if Malik had been paying attention, he would have notice that even more people had been seated; there now were only a fifth of the people whom had originally been standing. But he wasn't looking around; he couldn't tear his eyes away from the spectacle that had captured every ounce of attention. Those deep, wise eyes seemed to fall right over him, and he was bristling. He wanted to shout and scream and jump but instead he was glued to the floor, eyes wide and not blinking, with his lips parted ever so slightly and mouth dry, his lungs barely cooperating when it came to something as simple as breathing, let alone speaking of screaming. "Lovely... Now, anyone above or 20, your asses better be in your chairs."

Only four people remained standing, although once again, he wasn't aware of this. He didn't have a clue. He couldn't hear Mariku desperately trying to whisper for him to sit down; all he could concentrate on was all but begging the man on stage to see him, to look at Malik. No such luck.

"Nineteen year olds, sit your boots." One person sat down.

"Same goes for you, 18 or above, which is a little obvious." Another male was seated.

"Damn, anyone 17 go head and... what the hell, you guys know the drill." One chair was scooted in.

Two people remained standing. And finally, because it felt like forever, the albino's eyes fell upon him. There was a moment of absolute silence; while they both analyzed the other. It felt like the whole world stopped for a second, and the King's eyes narrowed, while Malik's did the same; they were testing each other. There was no one else there except the two of them, staring each other down, neither taking in a breath. They swam and searched and all but demanding information, hunting for a clue about each other. Something was different; it wasn't just a simple locking of eyes, it wasn't even the type of thing where you're walking along the street and you somehow _connect_ with a person you happen to glance at although never speak too, it was sososo much more. Without warning though, the man's gaze flickered away from him to the other still standing person, and Malik looked over as well, spotting a teenager with unruly long brown hair and brown eyes, who was standing proudly, smiling daringly, looking quite sure of him.

Malik wasn't positive, but he didn't think he'd ever felt the urge to smack someone so much in his life. He bridled, not understanding where the box of sudden anger had come from, but recognizing it nonetheless. He almost grimaced, but instead resisted, instead turning back to the whitenette on stage, Mariku's whispers and pleas for him to sit down falling on deaf ears.

"How old are both of you?" the man grunted, eyes cold, now looking more serious than ever.

The Egyptian opened his mouth to say something, but the other boy beat him to it, much to his annoyance. "I'm sixteen, my birthday is October 7th, my name is Richard Le." The thief paused, and something in Malik just _knew_ the man didn't like the boy. Call it a gut feeling.

"And you?"

A pause, and that day, that moment, something was awoken, that he'd never felt before. A feeling that allowed him to speak calmly and clearly, in a confident tone that completely clashed with the storm that his emotions raged on the inside.

"I turned sixteen years old yesterday."

There was silence; everywhere, behind him, to his sides, in front of him, even the sound of the heating vents that had seemed so loud moments ago seemed to have been turned off. No one breathed, and Mariku had long stopped whispering to him, either having found it a lost cause or thinking it too risky. All there was, was Malik and the nameless man, staring at each other for what felt like an eternity, an unspoken understanding that neither one of them understood, if that made sense.

"What's your name, boy?"

Malik felt his heart stammering in his chest, although he wasn't sure if he could ever manage to lie to this intimidating man.

"Malik Ishtar."

He could see it in the other man's eyes, the way the albino relished and held it, swam in his name. Malik had never felt so hot just from telling someone his name as he had then, and Bakura's smirk was calm and collected, saying his next words as if they were the most obvious things in the world. Which they probably were; to everyone in the room, excluding him.

"Well then, Malik, I believe I've found my new apprentice."

Oh shit.

So that's what this entire thing was about.

_Lost in a world, that scares me to death,  
Lost in a crowd I'm losing my breath,  
Lost as a kid, lost as an adult  
I feel everything is falling apart and it's my fault  
Lost as a person, can't find my way  
Lost in life every day, Lost in worry  
Who am I?  
I've lived a Lie  
Lost to Kindness,  
Lost to Love  
Lost in the sky,  
Like a lonely dove  
Lost in thought which I shouldn't do  
It Winds me up,  
I can't get through  
Lost to comfort all kind words  
Lost to advice that isn't heard  
Lost to those who really care?  
All these people always there  
Lost in Me, I need a break  
Lost in wonder which road should I take?  
Lost in a place I don't know well  
Where are you now? There's no one to tell  
Lost here all alone To break these walls  
Lost in mind  
Lost in soul  
Lost memories, there just a hole  
Lost family, lost my place  
Still yet I'm full of hate  
Because I'm lost with you_

By Olivia Braun

**I'm looking for a beta for this story; anyone interested?**

**So... I wrote this because you guys asked for it in my poll. HAHAHA. This was like a land slide vote, everyone really wanted to read this apparently.**

**I HOPE I DIDN'T LET ANYONE DOWN. LEGASP. ;-;**

**LOL. **

**I just graduated Middle School like... two weeks ago. 8D**

**I HAVE A QUESTION FOR AUTHORS OUT THERE:**

**I've been reading through my chapters of other stories and finding mistakes, which I've been correcting. If I replace a chapter with the correct one, will it send an email to all the people who have alerted my story? I know that might be awfully annoying. D: I don't want to irritate anyone! **

**Date Completed: 6/20/10**

**Word Count: 6.252**


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